This month’s National Garden Scheme venues across Dorset
Yardes Cottage
Country cottage garden bordering the Devil’s Brook, formal herbaceous borders, vegetable and soft fruit areas. Planting encourages insect life and supports their bees and hens. Yardes Cottage honey for sale.
Open: June 29 & July 1 (1pm to 5pm)
Where: Dewlish DT2 7L
Semley Grange
Flamboyant and colourful garden with deep herbaceous borders and wonderful roses. Wildflower meadow intersected by paths. Pergolas and raised beds for dahlias.
Open: July 1 (12-5pm)
Where: Semley SP7 9AP
Slape Manor
One of the inspirations behind RHS Chelsea 2022 Best in Show Garden, designed by Urquhart and Hunt with Rewilding Britain, this river valley garden features lawns, wildflower meadows and a stream with magnificent hostas and gunneras.
Open: July 1 & 2 (11am-5pm)
Where: Netherbury DT6 5LH
The White House
1½ acre Mediterranean style garden on different levels. Wildflower border, pond surrounded by moisture loving plants, prairie planting of grasses and perennials. Great plant stall.
Open: July 1 & 2 (1 – 5pm)
Where: Newtown, Witchampton BH21 5AU
The Old Rectory
A hillside garden with many aspects: low-level woodland garden with water ways, large rose garden and deep borders. Natural swimming pool planted with native plants. Formal front garden, designed by Arne Maynard, with pleached crabtree border, topiary and soft planting. Orchard and 350 rose bushes for a cut flower business Rosa Cheney.
Open: July 2 (11am to 5pm)
Where: Litton Cheney DT2 9AH
Bucknowle Coach House
Veteran yew and holm oak provide the backdrop for tall grasses and nectar rich flowers including salvias. Raised vegetable and cut flower beds lead to orchard with Japanese inspired studio. Vistas of Corfe Castle accompanied by the sound of flowing water.
Open: July 2 (12-4pm)
Where: Bucknowle BH20 5PQ
Glenholme Herbs
Paths meander through large, colourful beds inspired by Piet Oudolf, featuring a wide selection of herbs and salvias along with grasses, verbena and echinacea. Planted with wildlife in mind, the garden features a natural swimming pond. The family-owned nursery grows over 250 different herbs (glenholmeherbs.co.uk).
Open: July 8 & 9 (2-5pm)
Where: Penmore Road, Sandford Orcas DT9 4SE
Hogchester Farm
This former dairy farm has been largely gifted to nature with wild meadows and rewilding areas filled with local flora and fauna. Children’s treasure hunt in the wildflower meadows, rare breed sheep, goats, pigs and horses to meet, horticulture-based therapy for mental health and well-being. Talks on its transformation into a nature reserve.
Open: July 15 (9am-6pm)
Where: Axminster Road, Charmouth DT6 6BY
Manor Farm
Traditional farmhouse garden designed and cared for by the Trehane family over a century of farming and gardening. Noted for its herbaceous borders and rose beds within box and yew hedges. Excellent plants for sale.
Open: July 16 (1-5pm)
Where: Hampreston BH21 7LX
Little Cliff
Hillside plot with views of the sea divided into a series of garden rooms. Vibrant herbaceous borders including hot garden, large greenhouse with unusual subtropical plants, jungle walkway, Indian influenced pavilion leading to white borders and vegetable garden.
Open: July 20 & 23 (2-5pm)
Where: Sidmouth Road, Lyme Regis DT7 3EQ
27A Forest Road
Courtyard style front garden and jungle themed back packed with vibrant unusual plants, many rare and exotic, including over 100 salvias and 50 abutilons. A plant lover’s paradise, this glorious garden opened for the first time for the NGS in April to wide acclaim.
Open: July 22 & 23 (10am-4pm)
Where: Poole BH13 6DQ
Hollymoor Farm
Pollarded trees and pleached hornbeam provide elegant structure alongside soft floral planting in this lovely garden with valley views. Central circular bed surrounded by box hedging, pathways lined with lavender and box balls. Lattice and arches covered with climbing clematis and roses. Vegetable beds with wildlife friendly planting. Mature orchard and greenhouses.
Open: July 29 (11am-5pm)
Hollymoor Lane, Beaminster DT8 3NL
Avon Avenue
Japanese themed water garden featuring granite sculptures, ponds, waterfalls, cloud topiary and a collection of koi carp in a deep pond with water lilies.
Open: July 30 (12-5pm)
Where: Avon Castle, Ringwood BH24 2BH
Black Shed Cut Flower Farm
Over 200 colourful and productive flower beds growing cut flowers and foliage for this floristry business including delphiniums, larkspur, scabious and dahlias alongside more unusual perennials, foliage plants and grasses.
Open: July 30 (1-5pm)
Where: Blackmarsh Farm, Dodds Cross, Sherborne DT9 4JX
Find more details for all these openings at ngs.org.uk
Two Special NGS Openings
Lulworth Castle House: A special private tour of the gardens and grounds hosted by the owners, James and Sara Weld. Highlights include the Islamic Garden with fountain, rills and tropical plants, walled garden filled with roses and perennials, kitchen garden with ornate fruit cage and greenhouses. Prebooking essential (£30)
Open: July 6 (10.30am -1pm)
Where: Lulworth Park, East Lulworth BH20 5QS
Stafford House: Hosted by Lord and Lady Fellowes, this special opening with the creator of Downton Abbey includes homemade elevenses underneath the turkey oak tree planted in 1633. Humphry Repton (1752 – 1818) prepared the landscape proposals for this garden which includes a delightful river walk. Prebooking essential (£50).
Open: July 7 (10am-12pm)
Where: West Stafford DT2 8AD
Prebook at ngs.org.uk click on Special Garden Events
Group Garden Openings and Garden Talks
Okeford Fitzpaine Open Gardens: Up to 15 gardens as well as the village allotments open on July 1 (1am –5.30pm). St Andrew's Church hosts a display of wedding dresses worn by local brides, as well as creative flower arrangements. Refreshments in village hall. The Royal Oak opens from 3pm. Plant sales. Cost £6
Powerstock Open Gardens: Up to eight gardens and a small holding open over July 1-2 (11am –5pm). This weekend is also the 70th anniversary of the village hall known as 'The Hut' which will have displays about its history as well as local produce, books and crafts to buy, live folk music, morning coffee and a lunchtime barbecue. Teas at Glebe House. Plant sales. Cost £5, buy in school playground.
New Garden Lecture Series: The National Garden Scheme in Dorset has partnered with the Museum of East Dorset in Wimborne to run a garden lecture series throughout the summer months featuring talks by head gardeners, garden designers and garden writers. It launches on July 7 with a talk by Mark Lyons, the Head Gardener at Crichel House. From Gigging to Digging charts Mark’s journey from professional musician to heading up the gardening team at this privately owned estate in East Dorset. Ali Wright, Dorset County Organiser for the National Garden Scheme, first met Mark at Crichel House in 2019. ‘The dense planting, deep herbaceous borders in the walled garden and the sheer scale of his future plans for the garden are mesmerising,’ she says. ‘Mark will reveal the work he and his team have been doing over the last nine years, transforming Crichel into one of the finest gardens in the South West.’ These private gardens are opening their gates on September 1 for a special NGS event with a limited number of tickets available online. So, this is your chance to meet the gardener behind its evolution.
When: July 7, 6-8.30pm
Where: Museum of East Dorset, Wimborne Minster BH21 1HR
Tickets: £20 buy at bit.ly/GiggingToDigging
For full details on all these gardens visit ngs.org.uk
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